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My Experience Eating Keto/Carnivore

Darius

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Wont the lack of fibwr and excess nitrates increase the risk of cancer substantially though?

I feel like if you did this fish heavy (pescaterian) youd have all those toxins to worry about and if you just baked everything it would be boring as hell.

I imagine its quite possible the excess fats and cholesterol get processed smoothly since the liver isn't having to futz about with fructose and things but no way that much charred meat isn't wrecking a mans colon.

There are more nitrates in most vegetables than meat, so if that worries you - limit your intake of vegetables (and processed meats like bacon). I THINK nitrates aren't that big of a deal as long as you're not cooking them at high heat but I could wrong.

Your body can't digest fiber. If I remember correctly, because fiber can't digest, it can leave scar tissue on your intestines as it forces things to move down the "tunnel". This isn't a huge deal short term (although can lead to gut issues short term) but long term it can scar up so much of your intestines that it reduces the ability to absorb nutrients. Causing you to be deficient in nutrients as you get older even if you're eating food with those nutrients.

Fiber might be better if used as a replacement for carbs to reduce glucose spikes.

Most fish you buy at a supermarket will be of low quality. I don't have good sourcing techniques for quality seafood I can verify so I stay away from it. It's riskier to eat low quality fish than low quality beef.

As far as "wrecking" your colon - it's all relative. Based on how meat digests, I'd imagine fiber would wreck your colon faster than charred meat. The char is such a small percentage of the meat that it may be less damaging when compared to bigger sized pieces of fiber.

This is especially important depending on the fiber in your system. If the fiber in your system is absorbing water from your intestines that would normally be used to help lubricate things, it can do much more damage.
 
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Darius

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The biggest problem is at work. If I was going to a restaurant that would be fine, but the places around me are all bakery, kebabs, sandwiches, etc. I also havent been very good with vegetables since I was a kid, these old habits die hard.

Just started doing one meal a day a few days ago, already lost 1.5kg (3.3lb) but I'm keen to get this carnivore thing going on so I'll give meal prep a crack this weekend.

I wish I had better advice for you on how to get over the sandwiches and stuff, but since I just stopped eating all of that suddenly - I never had that problem.

Let me know how meal prepping goes! My meal prep is usually a big bowl of ground beef or roast lol.
 

Chairman

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I wish I had better advice for you on how to get over the sandwiches and stuff, but since I just stopped eating all of that suddenly - I never had that problem.

Let me know how meal prepping goes! My meal prep is usually a big bowl of ground beef or roast lol.

Will do, alot of resources on reddit for keto shit so I'll suss out some recipes that look tasty and easy to make and go from there.
 

Jesse W

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It's been over a year since starting Keto. Here's a quick summary of 1 yr changes off the top of my head:
  • I can eat as much as I want.
  • My weight has stabilized at about 20lbs less than where I started.
  • I'm not losing weight but still losing fat. I'm getting noticeably leaner by the week
  • Bowel movements every 3-7 days. No stomach bloat or issues when it's time, so I'm not worried right now.
  • Hair grows faster
  • Sinus issues I've had all my life are fixed.
  • I drink a lot less water when I don't salt my food.
  • I find myself eating the same foods out of preference.
  • I may have eaten enough liver for my body. When I eat it now, I don't really want it. I eat it every so often to see if my body decides it wants.
  • Pretty sure I discovered I had insulin-resistance
  • Think I fixed a zinc deficiency. My blood tests were normal but the symptoms were there (white spots on fingernails and skin issues like eczema). I feel like I've had those symptoms all my life and figured they were normal for me. The eczema is still here but the white spots are gone. I did more than just diet to fix this.
  • Cholesterol is high (the more I study cholesterol the more I believe this is a good thing)
  • Acne is gone
  • Eye sensitivity to light has dropped drastically.
  • I don't think about food unless I'm hungry.
  • Strength has increased
  • Sleep is better
  • And probably some other things I forgot.

If you've been on the fence about trying keto or carnivore, try it for 30 days with no cheats.

I can't say this is the best diet. I don't think any of us really know. But, I'd definitely recommend trying it out
Nice progess man!
I was just talking to my co-worker about this thread. He mentioned he did it and his method was OMAD( one meal a day with keto). Have you ever tried that method, Darius?
 
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Sander

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My energy has skyrocketed after I changed my diet to keto. My sleep is a lot better, I can eat three times a day, getting full after every meal, and have no guilt about it. I snack with nuts, pork rinds, different type of snack sasuages or +85% dark chocolate if I need it. But overall snacking is a lot less than before.

Weight isn't dropping like it's hot, but as Darius said, I feel leaner everyday. I also only need to drop around 5-10 kg to be around my ideal weight, so I don't care if it's moving slow. I really feel I can adapt this kind of lifestyle, and then the 5-10 kg's of fat will drop sooner or later.

Found a couple of great replacements for bread or potatoes, which I ate a lot of before. One example is röstis made of celeriac, eggs and cheese instead of originally potatoes. They are awesome and works as a great replacement.

Big thumbs up for this lifestyle. Can really recommend it if you need more energy in your life.
 

Darius

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Nice progess man!
I was just talking to my co-worker about this thread. He mentioned he did it and his method was OMAD( one meal a day with keto). Have you ever tried that method, Darius?

I've done OMAD intentionally before. It's so convenient on days where I'm busy.

I also tend to accidentally do OMAD. Some days my body just doesn't signal hunger for me, so I won't eat unless it's a workout day.
 

Siddhartha

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Carnivore since October 2017

Most recent panel:
HDL: 101
LDL: 50
Trigs: 67
Gluc: 82

I want the LDL to be higher to get more of those anti-cancer/anti-psychosis/anti-infection benefits, but lipoproteins are mysterious creatures that work in mysterious ways.

The energy and healing factor is amazing. I started out doing OMEOD carnivore but now I'm mostly OMAD/warrior fasting.
I'm glad I found it, glad others are too.
 
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John D.

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To people in this thread who have successfully transitioned from a high-carb, junk food diet to keto (and stayed on it for a significant period of time):

Have you experienced any serious improvement in your cognitive abilities? As in, does it help clear up muddied thinking and brain fog?

(I'm aware that YMMV as with most lifestyle changes. Just curious of your personal experience, that's all.)
 

Tourmaline

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I've never felt better mentally than when I was doing carnivore/zerocarb.

Although it was really difficult to be carnivore by myself, so now I just do a loose keto where I keep carbs under 100g.

Although it is very unclear if eating lots of saturated fat is actually bad for you or not...
 

John D.

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I've never felt better mentally than when I was doing carnivore/zerocarb.

Although it was really difficult to be carnivore by myself, so now I just do a loose keto where I keep carbs under 100g.

Although it is very unclear if eating lots of saturated fat is actually bad for you or not...
Do you eat a lot of Omega 3's when on keto?

I feel those really make a difference -- my mind is spinning with thoughts and fresh ideas when I eat a lot of mackerel and sardines. (Could be a placebo, but still.)
 
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Tourmaline

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I ate a lot more fish when I was doing carnivore, about 3-4lbs a week. Most of that was salmon. 90% of the rest was grass fed wagyu beef or prime angus. Pretty omega 3 heavy.

Lately my keto has mostly consisted of chicken thighs and beef. I'd intended to start taking fish oil, but haven't kept up with that. So my omega 3 intake is way down.

I wouldn't be surprised if omega 3 does help you think better. It's highly demanded by the brain. Of course I can't prove that it actually makes a difference, and unfortunately I don't remember if it made a difference when I was eating a lot of sardines which was right before I went zerocarb too.
 
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To people in this thread who have successfully transitioned from a high-carb, junk food diet to keto (and stayed on it for a significant period of time):

Have you experienced any serious improvement in your cognitive abilities? As in, does it help clear up muddied thinking and brain fog?

(I'm aware that YMMV as with most lifestyle changes. Just curious of your personal experience, that's all.)
Yes, I had severe brain fog after eating meals that reversed itself almost completely within 2 weeks of going carnivore. It is life changing.
 

Tomas J

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To people in this thread who have successfully transitioned from a high-carb, junk food diet to keto (and stayed on it for a significant period of time):

Have you experienced any serious improvement in your cognitive abilities? As in, does it help clear up muddied thinking and brain fog?

(I'm aware that YMMV as with most lifestyle changes. Just curious of your personal experience, that's all.)
I've experienced a really huge improvement in cognitive abilities and reduction in the brain fog when IF which is (as far as I know) really similar to ketosis - like a milder variant of it. I am about to try ketosis in fall, but now, in summer, it's almost impossible for me - there are too many tasty local fruits that I really enjoy (I eat that in moderation).

So right now I do IF (16/8, plan to try 20/4) while eating what's close to nature - not processed without any concern about fat/carbs intake (just avoiding sugar except fruit in moderation) and it works pretty well for me.
 
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Rabby

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I don't claim to be smarter than any doctor. They should be smarter than me, this is their job. I don't know if the doctors my mom has access to ever brush up on their knowledge or only know what they were taught in school.

Regardless, there is a big lack of common sense in the medical field from my experience today.

Maybe it's because doctors get sued if they don't follow the book - honestly, I don't know.

But, If you have to go to the doctor for anything - try to question as much as you can. I don't expect the average person to know much about nutrition/diseases and I don't expect doctors to explain anything.

I'm leaning towards telling my mom she should switch specialist but I don't have a recommendation for her to switch to. So, for now - I think I'm going to tell her to keep the specialist until I can find a replacement that works with her insurance & looks promising.

A few things about this. I've had the opportunity to get to know a lot of doctors personally, and chat with them socially. One recurring theme is that they "have to follow the book." This is frustating to the ones who no longer believe in "the book", but they do it anyway because their careers depend on it. They have to consider litigation, the possibility of being disciplined by medical boards, etc.

My conclusion from these talks is that after graduation from medical school, practicing medicine is as much a set of social rites as it is an intellectual discipline. By social rites I mean, boards of experts, rulers of the profession, authorities, etc., force them to observe certain patterns of behavior, even if their intellect and better judgement points them toward something else.

Of course, I may just have a knack for meeting frustrated doctors. I'm not trying to put them all in the same basket.

With diet, it's really amazing how persistent bad information is. There was never a valid study showing that eating saturated fat causes heart disease. In fact, it doesn't have much effect on fasting cholesterol levels. If you eat nothing but sugary snacks, you will metabolize those sugary snacks into cholesterol. If you consume cholesterol, your body will down-regulate any non-critical cholesterol production to compensate.

Worse, the idea that we need to "treat" people's cholesterol is asinine. Research shows that HIGHER blood cholesterol is associated with REDUCED all-cause mortality. So why do we want to lower cholesterol? To kill people faster? Or maybe it's because we're still using invalid, fraudulent research from decades ago, and now the pharmaceutical industry is too invested in the idea for us to quit it now.

My father had normal blood cholesterol. His doctor put him on statins "for good measure." He was hospitalized twice with liver problems, and both times, the problem persisted and did not resolve itself until he was taken off statins.

My rule with doctors and any other professionals is, nobody has your best interests in mind like you do. I hate to say it, but we all have to be our own doctors to a certain extent. IT doens't mean we should reject modern medicine - that would be stupid. But there is plenty of room for error in medicine, and we know ourselves better than a doctor knows us.

Here, just in case you think I sound too cautious, is the perspective from John's Hopkins: Johns Hopkins study suggests medical errors are third-leading cause of death in U.S.

Anecdotally I can add a few more bits of evidence for doing your own research, and knowing what's going on around you whenever medical treatment is involved.
  • When my wife was delivering our daughter, she had an epidural. A nurse-trainee came in and flipped the bed so that her head was below her feet. Wife immediately began blacking out, was barely able to whisper "I can't breathe," and I raised ungodly hell. If I hadn't been in the room, I wonder if I would have a wife or a child. For the uninitiated, epidural anesthesia is gravity-based. If you flip the patient, you turn off the heart, lungs, and brain instead of the pelvis.
  • Also my wife. She gets weekly allergy injections, and always insists on inspecting the injection before it is administered. She knows her patient number at the allergy clinic. And yes, a nurse tried to give her someone else's injection. I don't know what that would cause, but even in a best case scenario, I don't think I would want an injection meant for someone else. In a worst case scenario, like in an emergency room, it could be a fatality.
  • A friend of ours was Type 1 diabetic, or so we believed. She was diagnosed over 25 years ago, and the insulin has of course taken a toll over time. Well it turns out she was misdiagnosed. This came to light when she changed to a keto diet and started getting her blood tested independently to try to improve her health. "Oops, sorry we thought you were type 1." She's type 2.
I could probably list more, and then I could go into the insanity of medical malpractice claims, coming from the insurance industry. Don't take this the wrong way... doctors are good and necessary. However, you have to be your own doctor, and your own nutritionist, first. Well, that's my opinion anyway.
 

Rabby

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Related, sortof. I just can't leave this out.

I took my cats to a new veterinarian. She asked me what I feed the cats. "Raw meat, hearts, livers." I got the most horrified look... I refrained from mentioning I also consume raw meat, hearts, and livers. That seemed like too many revelations in one day considering the facial expression.

The vet went on to blast me about what an irresponsible pet owner I am. What made me think cats could eat raw meat? For heaven's sake! They eat cat food obviously. She told me they would die of heart disease, kidney failure, have a shortened lifespan, etc.

I gathered my cats to leave since I was obviously being ambushed by a nutrition nazi, but had to mention that these cats, a Persian and a Himalayan, were 18 years old and perfectly healthy and active.
 
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Tourmaline

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What made me think cats could eat raw meat? For heaven's sake!

:rofl:

lol this is gold

Where did you study to become a vet again??? lol...

Do you do carnivore or just have this as part of your diet?
 

RazorCut

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Rabby

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Do you do carnivore or just have this as part of your diet?

I've never tried to do a named diet. Overcooked meat and raw vegetables, for whatever reason, make me feel bad. The exception being lettuce... I don't have to cook that. I got so sick eating raw carrots I actually thought I might die. Being an idiot,I assumed that was a fluke and tried it again about a year later. Same thing. I have a friend who snacks on raw carrots all the time... no way I could survive his diet. So I guess I just eat what my stomach accepts.
 
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SuccessCapital

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I know I'm a few years late, but awesome topic. I would like to add and share my personal experience with low-carb/keto.

I have struggled with weight most of my adult life. Because of my height and size (6'2", 240), I was able to hide it well. I have always taken an interest in physical health and work-outs, but as TMF + Unscripted point out, it has always been an event based motivation instead of a long term mindset and lifestyle based.

A few years ago, after regular blood tests and general physical checkup, my doc scared the crap out of me because my Cholesterol was relatively high for my age, my triglycerides were off the roof and he said at my age (37), I was on my way to developing Diabetes and metabolic syndrome. As a father of 4 young kids, one of my biggest fears is not being present in their lives as life moves forward.

About a year ago, I decided to go all in, taking small but important mental/physical steps.

a) Started learning what I could about different diet options and other solutions to get on the right track. I tried a few options for a few weeks at a time and saw what was working and what was not. Tried high protein, low calories, intermittent fasting (which I still do once in a while), etc. After much research and talk with my doc and other health professionals, I realized the common thread of our overall North American unhealthy food choices and diets are sugar and carbs.

b) About 4-6 months ago I made a decision to jump all in to low carb/Keto. I can genuinely say that for me it was life changing.

Although I still consider myself in the early stages, I have been able to go from 240 down to 227lbs. I know it's not that much, but it has been quite a struggle, as I have sometimes let my cheat meals turn into cheat day(s), and would have to start over again to reach ketosis.

Main Changes:
- obvious physical, more energy, clearer frame of mind, weight loss and muscle maintenance with regular basic workouts at home
-my cravings for sweets and carb rich foods have practically disappeared, except for the occasional chocolate cravings (chocolate addict here).
- here is one of the most amazing, although not certain that it is related to Keto (still trying to see the science behind it) --> as with many overweight people, I have had fatty lipomas growing in certain parts of my body throughout the years, as I get older. The crazy part is I am actually starting to feel some of them decrease to point of almost non existent!

Bottom line is, I think that diet options, and general food lifestyle choices are not meant to be used across all the lines. For some, Keto works better, for others, IF, for others Vegan - what I do see however is that there are certain black/white things that make a health difference in all our lives, and we all know it - sugar, crap food, empty carbs, etc. etc. Also, as it related to this forum, I see that one of the best ways to gain momentum and see actual results is health/fitness - this gives you the push, purpose and motivation to get the other essential parts of life in order!

Good luck fellow Fastlaners and to your health!
 

AnneC

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I try not to eat a ton of processed foods, when I’m consciously eating healthy, but that Enlightened Keto series of ice cream is absolutely delicious. The “Butter Pecan” and “Coffee and Cream” are both amazing. I discovered it last week, and it feels like that Seinfeld episode with the low-fat froyo... too good to be true.
 
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This is great!! I have been eating keto for 13 months now, started an animal-based diet (meat, fish, eggs and dairy) in february 2020 and have been a strict carnivore (meat, fish, eggs and water, and NOTHING ELSE) since mid-april 2020. I don't think I ll ever go back to a standard diet. Got rid of depression, anxiety, my hair changed its consistency, my teeth got whiter, I am less moody and have a better self-esteem. Even though I wasn't fat, I lost 12 pounds!!

I buy meat from a wholeseller directly and buy per 10kg so I get it cheaper. I stopped going to the supermarket altogether, which saves an incredible amount of time, and stopped cooking too since the only thing I need to do is...cook the meat in the pan.

I wouldn't recommend carnivore because it is too extreme and few people will be able to keep up with it, but I most def recommend keto. Sugar is evil, there is no way around it, and decreasing its consumption only yields positive results!!
 
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Tom H.

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I read this post several months ago, and started taking my diet seriously due the first time in my life.

I went 111 days with no cheat days, something I could never do before, then I ate some normal for 5 days while visiting in-laws, but I was in a hurry to get back on keto and went right into it as soon as we got home.

I tested my glucose and ketone levels a few times via finger prick to make sure I was doing it, but other than that I didn't try too hard.

I'm ready to go a little harder now with more workouts and fasting.

I felt great the whole time, aside from cramps. Eating spinach and pumpkin seeds is important for electrolytes. Only problem really is that my body odor is strong with ketones.
 

Martin.G

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I am started to read "The carnivore diet" by Shawn Baker and listening podcast interviews to the author. He says that with a carnivore diet you tend to lost weight, and if you want to build muscle you need to eat more fatty meat. What kind of experience do you have with that?

I was always skinny, so the last months I started to lift weight. Also, I'm started eating gluten-free food since 2 years ago. And now, I am started to eat only meat and eggs. So I am afraid to be more skinny. I want to stay lean, with low % of body fat, but also to build muscle. I know that I am asking a lot (building muscle and stay lean at the same time), but I want to know what kind of experience do you have in this regard.
 

Darius

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@Darius Tried raw beef liver, felt high afterwards. Did you have the same experience?
I was going back through the thread and noticed I missed this. Sorry!

Nope, I didn't have the same experience. Do you feel the same way if you eat cooked beef liver?

I am started to read "The carnivore diet" by Shawn Baker and listening podcast interviews to the author. He says that with a carnivore diet you tend to lost weight, and if you want to build muscle you need to eat more fatty meat. What kind of experience do you have with that?

When I do carnivore I lose weight regardless of calories if I'm lifting weights at least 3 times per week. If I don't lift weights, I'm more likely to stay the same weight or slowly gain.

However, what changes things is my eating frequency.

If I eat once a day, I'll lose weight regardless of calories or workout routine. I believe this weight loss would eventually plateau after it finds a new normal but even at my lowest I was still losing weight (~127 lbs + 7-8% ish bodyfat).

If I fast 16-hours and eat for 8-hours out of the day, I'll typically lose weight without lifting weights but there have been times where I've gained.

If I eat for more than 10 hours out of the day, working out 3 times per week will cause me to lose weight - while not working out will likely cause me to gain.

I don't agree with Shawn Baker's statement about needing fatty meat for muscle growth. In my experience, you'll gain muscle as long as you eat enough protein (which is hard not to do on carnivore).

The fattier the meat, the less likely you are to lose weight (even though I was eating fatty meat and still losing weight)
 
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I just saw this bumped. I’ve been in ketosis for 37 days straight. I’m learning that this is a very manageable lifestyle change and I feel better and better every day.

It is time I did something about the extra 40 pounds I carry around. I see being lighter than I have been since high school within 6 months.

The biggest focus this time around has been cleaner fats. Not trash a$$ keto bacon piles and stuff. Lots of avocados, nuts, and olive oil.

They actually have great Keto ice cream and really good yogurt now too.

The best advice I have for anyone wanting to do this long term is get the Keto test strips and begin learning what different foods do to your blood sugar. Yesterday morning I actually ate some hash browns with an omelette at the country club and was confident it would still be in ketosis. I was correct.
 

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I just saw this bumped. I’ve been in ketosis for 37 days straight. I’m learning that this is a very manageable lifestyle change and I feel better and better every day.

It is time I did something about the extra 40 pounds I carry around. I see being lighter than I have been since high school within 6 months.

The biggest focus this time around has been cleaner fats. Not trash a$$ keto bacon piles and stuff. Lots of avocados, nuts, and olive oil.

They actually have great Keto ice cream and really good yogurt now too.

The best advice I have for anyone wanting to do this long term is get the Keto test strips and begin learning what different foods do to your blood sugar. Yesterday morning I actually ate some hash browns with an omelette at the country club and was confident it would still be in ketosis. I was correct.
No more keto Kris style? A plate of pepper bacon for breakfast.
 

vitalij24

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What's up everyone! I haven't posted here in a while but thought I'd give you guys some insight on my experience doing lazy keto (8 months so far) and the Carnivore (~2 months) WOE (way of eating). I'm not a doctor, this post isn't medical advice, and I'm not telling you to do Keto or Carnivore. Do what you want. This post will simply show you my experience and what I think I've learned from my research.

What is Lazy Keto?:
Lazy Keto is basically when you eat less than 20g of carbs per day, but you don't track it. You don't try to hit 'strict' macros, restrict calories, or measure blood ketones. Just stay under that carb amount and you’ll enter a metabolic state called ‘ketosis’ (basically when your body starts to utilize stored body fat and convert it into an energy source called ketones)

What is Carnivore?:
Carnivore is when you only eat animal products. This excludes all plants. Some people still use plant seasonings and drink coffee/tea, but that’s technically not carnivore. You can incorporate more carbs from animal sources to see how they affect you (think raw honey and milk).

Why I started eating Keto and Carnivore:
I’m always trying to be healthier. I heard good things about Keto via Reddit and thought why not. Once I did some research and figured Keto probably wouldn’t kill me to try for a couple months, I went straight to Keto. Carnivore just became a gradual transition that my body steered me towards. I had no diagnosed medical problems and was not overweight (my body fat percentage was probably between 20-23% depending at the time of starting - now around 15%). I definitely had fat to lose.

Issues I had before Keto/Carnivore:
  • I was always slightly tired regardless of how much sleep I got. Some days better than others, but more tired than not. I now believe this was a sign of insulin resistance. However, all of my blood work was normal. I figured this was just the way it was supposed to be.

  • I would get tired after a carb-heavy meal, think pancakes with syrup. Another sign of insulin resistance. I also figured this was normal for my body, due to it happening when eating a 'healthy' meal of steel-cut oatmeal, egg whites, and 2% milk.

  • CICO (Calories-in-Calories-out) no longer worked for me and despite weight lifting ~6 days per week, I couldn’t lose much stomach fat. I now believe this was an early sign of metabolic syndrome. At the time, I figured I just needed to drop my calories even more (my lowest was 800 per day in order to lose .4-.8 lbs per week at ~152lbs).

  • I could barely breathe out my nose. They said I needed surgery in order to fix it but it shouldn’t cause any major problems to just leave it - that was 5-6 years ago.

  • Eczema & seborrheic dermatitis (I had asthma as a child and dermatologist said they’re related). She gave me steroids that I refuse to take.

  • Acne (figured it was normal)

  • Eyes sensitive to bright lights (had no idea why)

My Experience (short version):
  • Went from eating 800-1200 calories to 2800-3500 calories per day. (keto + carnivore)

  • Went from 155 lbs to 135 lbs - lost primarily water and fat, strength and muscle mass has increased. (keto & carnivore)

  • 5-year fatigue issues resolved (keto & carnivore)
  • One of my nostrils would always be closed and the other nostril would only be ~50% open. This is no longer a problem. Both nostrils fully open now and no longer a mouth breather (keto & carnivore)

  • Never ‘hangry’ (keto + carnivore)

  • More focus and energy when I don’t eat. (keto & carnivore)

  • Hair grows faster (carnivore)

  • Acne is mainly cleared (keto)

  • Eczema and Seb derm did not clear up from diet. However, it does clear up on days I get a lot of sun.

  • I’m not sure if the eye sensitivity was fixed from diet or since I stopped wearing sunglasses often.

Typical Things I Eat:
  • 2-4 oz liver with eggs/butter/cheese

  • 0.8-1 lb ribeye with butter

  • 5-8 oz burger patty with cheese and butter (depending on how lean the meat is)

  • Liver, kidney, heart, spleen, and chuck ground mixture for burgers or taco meat

  • Smoked sockeye salmon with eggs/butter/cheese

  • Occasional chicken wings

  • Slow-cooked brisket with cheese

  • Broccoli & green beans (during keto)

How Often I Eat:
I started eating 3 meals per day. Now I typically eat 1 or 2 meals per day. I usually eat 2 meals on days where I feel sore from working out or if I'm eating out with friends unexpectedly.

Month #1 - Keto:
It was fairly easy for me to keep carbs under 20g just by eating meat, veggies, and cheese. Not the ideal way to keto in my opinion (organs should be included for vitamins), but I ate what I had available. On my 5th day, I got lightheaded for about 1 hour. After a few Google Searches, I learned that electrolyte imbalances are common in the early stages of keto. These imbalances can cause symptoms that people call ‘keto flu’. I kept swallowing a pinch of salt until it tasted too salty. This got rid of the symptoms within 30 mins and I didn't’ have any other keto flu symptoms afterward. I also lost 8 pounds.

Month #2-#6 - Keto:
After the first month, body fat kept dropping even though I started eating more calories. I started adding more fat to my diet, specifically butter and avocados - which made my consumed calories rise to around 2300-2500 calories. I was nervous at first due to previously being able to gain fat at anything over 1200 calories. That didn’t happen, so I kept slowly increasing the amount of food I ate until I was full. I did notice some days I’d have digestion issues after eating too much roasted broccoli.

Month #7 - Keto + Carnivore:
The first-day doing carnivore felt wrong mentally. Who in their right mind thinks not eating vegetables is a good thing? Regardless, I pushed through the mental thoughts. After the first week, those thoughts went away and I started to feel even better than I did on Keto. All through my time doing Keto I was learning about nutrition trying to put the pieces together as to how it’s causing me to lose fat while eating more and helping the issues that I thought were normal. But, when carnivore started making me feel even better, I really got focused on learning because I didn’t understand how this was even possible.

I learned a ton about vitamins (both plant & animal versions) and the foods that contain them, plant defense mechanisms, plant diversity, gut microbiota, the quality differences between meat, and a ton more. I probably spent 2-3 hours daily learning/trying to break down different studies and their methods due to it being so interesting.

This is the month I started to limit my animal consumption to beef, dairy, eggs, and the occasional salmon. I started purchasing grass-fed pasture-raised beef and pasture-raised chicken eggs. I was already purchasing ‘wild caught’ salmon.

I also began incorporating offal into my diet at this point after researching how nutrient dense they are (and bio-available) from a grass-fed pasture-raised cow. I purchased liver, kidney, spleen, and heart.

Month #8 - Keto + Carnivore:
In month #8, I started purchasing a good amount of my beef & chicken from a local farm. I’m actually surprised at the differences in quality. The muscle meat has no marbling and taste beefier (I’m still getting used to it), the beef fat is extremely soft, melts, and taste really good, the beef organs taste normal but I’ve been buying high-quality offal since my first time trying them so I don’t know what others taste like.

I try to have at least 2 servings of offal (preferably liver) per week as a ‘multivitamin’ due to its vitamin profile (it has every fat-soluble vitamin and water-soluble vitamins depending on how you cook it. Some is lost when cooking). I tried eating liver raw and it’s ok. It’s chewy and can be ‘minerally’ tasting at times, but it’s fine. I prefer pan seared.

I’m still losing body fat and can now fast for multiple days at a time on accident due to being busy. I rarely get hungry unless I fast for 1-3 days.

Towards the end of month #8, I started incorporating a couple ‘cheat’ meals during a house move - which are basically keto friendly foods that are more processed - such as a quest pizza. I noticed some bloating from the fiber but other than that there was no immediate weight gain or issues.

Overall
It's been a cool experience and this WOE has been fixing some issues that I didn't know could be fixed from diet. I'm slowly learning a lot about nutrition and realizing how much humans don't know about nutrition. Most studies are biased for whoever funds it, even if detrimental to our overall health.

But, I don't really miss any carbs except for Sweet Potato Pie. I'm planning on eating some in November but going right back to carnivore after.

Questions:

How did you use the bathroom without fiber during carnivore?

On carnivore, I go to the bathroom a lot less (every 3-4 days) but never felt constipated or bloated. If anything, it's easy and quick to use the bathroom when I need to.

Don’t you feel bad eating animals that have to be killed?
I know a good amount of forum members are vegans so I figured this question might be asked. Of course. But I also feel bad when a lion hunts and kills an animal for his family. Death, in general, makes me feel bad. I try to limit the number of animals that have to be killed by mainly focusing on beef for organ & meat consumption. One cow can feed 1 person for 12+ months just off of meat and fat. Most people don’t eat organs so I pick those up for cheap so it doesn’t go to waste.

How is your blood work?
I haven’t had it done yet since starting keto (I had it done right before). I’ve been waiting until the 1-year mark but might get it done in January. So, it’s possible my blood work could be on the brink of heart disease and diabetes.

How did you give up carbs/sugar?
Honestly, I just stopped eating them. The day before starting keto I had over 250g of carbs. I didn’t think about it.

What about vitamin deficiencies since you stopped eating vegetables?
The vitamins in vegetables are controversial at the moment. They’re not bio-available (meaning we don’t absorb them well). The rate at which someone can absorb them is on a person by person basis. Some people can get enough from plants and others can't. High-quality liver has most of the vitamins needed to survive (in a bio-available form). I say most due to vitamin loss based on cooking methods, vitamin d (In my opinion, this should come from the sun), and possibly vitamin K2 (which comes from fermented foods like cheese or ‘spoiled’ food - they call this ‘high meat’ I think). I believe the same mechanism that allows our body to make vitamin d from the sun also triggers other mechanisms to run - I read about some of the believed mechanisms but haven’t read any studies on it.
Keto/Carnivore Diets are very toxic and unhealthy in the long run. Yes, you will lose weight and feel great but at greater health costs.
What's up everyone! I haven't posted here in a while but thought I'd give you guys some insight on my experience doing lazy keto (8 months so far) and the Carnivore (~2 months) WOE (way of eating). I'm not a doctor, this post isn't medical advice, and I'm not telling you to do Keto or Carnivore. Do what you want. This post will simply show you my experience and what I think I've learned from my research.

What is Lazy Keto?:
Lazy Keto is basically when you eat less than 20g of carbs per day, but you don't track it. You don't try to hit 'strict' macros, restrict calories, or measure blood ketones. Just stay under that carb amount and you’ll enter a metabolic state called ‘ketosis’ (basically when your body starts to utilize stored body fat and convert it into an energy source called ketones)

What is Carnivore?:
Carnivore is when you only eat animal products. This excludes all plants. Some people still use plant seasonings and drink coffee/tea, but that’s technically not carnivore. You can incorporate more carbs from animal sources to see how they affect you (think raw honey and milk).

Why I started eating Keto and Carnivore:
I’m always trying to be healthier. I heard good things about Keto via Reddit and thought why not. Once I did some research and figured Keto probably wouldn’t kill me to try for a couple months, I went straight to Keto. Carnivore just became a gradual transition that my body steered me towards. I had no diagnosed medical problems and was not overweight (my body fat percentage was probably between 20-23% depending at the time of starting - now around 15%). I definitely had fat to lose.

Issues I had before Keto/Carnivore:
  • I was always slightly tired regardless of how much sleep I got. Some days better than others, but more tired than not. I now believe this was a sign of insulin resistance. However, all of my blood work was normal. I figured this was just the way it was supposed to be.

  • I would get tired after a carb-heavy meal, think pancakes with syrup. Another sign of insulin resistance. I also figured this was normal for my body, due to it happening when eating a 'healthy' meal of steel-cut oatmeal, egg whites, and 2% milk.

  • CICO (Calories-in-Calories-out) no longer worked for me and despite weight lifting ~6 days per week, I couldn’t lose much stomach fat. I now believe this was an early sign of metabolic syndrome. At the time, I figured I just needed to drop my calories even more (my lowest was 800 per day in order to lose .4-.8 lbs per week at ~152lbs).

  • I could barely breathe out my nose. They said I needed surgery in order to fix it but it shouldn’t cause any major problems to just leave it - that was 5-6 years ago.

  • Eczema & seborrheic dermatitis (I had asthma as a child and dermatologist said they’re related). She gave me steroids that I refuse to take.

  • Acne (figured it was normal)

  • Eyes sensitive to bright lights (had no idea why)

My Experience (short version):
  • Went from eating 800-1200 calories to 2800-3500 calories per day. (keto + carnivore)

  • Went from 155 lbs to 135 lbs - lost primarily water and fat, strength and muscle mass has increased. (keto & carnivore)

  • 5-year fatigue issues resolved (keto & carnivore)
  • One of my nostrils would always be closed and the other nostril would only be ~50% open. This is no longer a problem. Both nostrils fully open now and no longer a mouth breather (keto & carnivore)

  • Never ‘hangry’ (keto + carnivore)

  • More focus and energy when I don’t eat. (keto & carnivore)

  • Hair grows faster (carnivore)

  • Acne is mainly cleared (keto)

  • Eczema and Seb derm did not clear up from diet. However, it does clear up on days I get a lot of sun.

  • I’m not sure if the eye sensitivity was fixed from diet or since I stopped wearing sunglasses often.

Typical Things I Eat:
  • 2-4 oz liver with eggs/butter/cheese

  • 0.8-1 lb ribeye with butter

  • 5-8 oz burger patty with cheese and butter (depending on how lean the meat is)

  • Liver, kidney, heart, spleen, and chuck ground mixture for burgers or taco meat

  • Smoked sockeye salmon with eggs/butter/cheese

  • Occasional chicken wings

  • Slow-cooked brisket with cheese

  • Broccoli & green beans (during keto)

How Often I Eat:
I started eating 3 meals per day. Now I typically eat 1 or 2 meals per day. I usually eat 2 meals on days where I feel sore from working out or if I'm eating out with friends unexpectedly.

Month #1 - Keto:
It was fairly easy for me to keep carbs under 20g just by eating meat, veggies, and cheese. Not the ideal way to keto in my opinion (organs should be included for vitamins), but I ate what I had available. On my 5th day, I got lightheaded for about 1 hour. After a few Google Searches, I learned that electrolyte imbalances are common in the early stages of keto. These imbalances can cause symptoms that people call ‘keto flu’. I kept swallowing a pinch of salt until it tasted too salty. This got rid of the symptoms within 30 mins and I didn't’ have any other keto flu symptoms afterward. I also lost 8 pounds.

Month #2-#6 - Keto:
After the first month, body fat kept dropping even though I started eating more calories. I started adding more fat to my diet, specifically butter and avocados - which made my consumed calories rise to around 2300-2500 calories. I was nervous at first due to previously being able to gain fat at anything over 1200 calories. That didn’t happen, so I kept slowly increasing the amount of food I ate until I was full. I did notice some days I’d have digestion issues after eating too much roasted broccoli.

Month #7 - Keto + Carnivore:
The first-day doing carnivore felt wrong mentally. Who in their right mind thinks not eating vegetables is a good thing? Regardless, I pushed through the mental thoughts. After the first week, those thoughts went away and I started to feel even better than I did on Keto. All through my time doing Keto I was learning about nutrition trying to put the pieces together as to how it’s causing me to lose fat while eating more and helping the issues that I thought were normal. But, when carnivore started making me feel even better, I really got focused on learning because I didn’t understand how this was even possible.

I learned a ton about vitamins (both plant & animal versions) and the foods that contain them, plant defense mechanisms, plant diversity, gut microbiota, the quality differences between meat, and a ton more. I probably spent 2-3 hours daily learning/trying to break down different studies and their methods due to it being so interesting.

This is the month I started to limit my animal consumption to beef, dairy, eggs, and the occasional salmon. I started purchasing grass-fed pasture-raised beef and pasture-raised chicken eggs. I was already purchasing ‘wild caught’ salmon.

I also began incorporating offal into my diet at this point after researching how nutrient dense they are (and bio-available) from a grass-fed pasture-raised cow. I purchased liver, kidney, spleen, and heart.

Month #8 - Keto + Carnivore:
In month #8, I started purchasing a good amount of my beef & chicken from a local farm. I’m actually surprised at the differences in quality. The muscle meat has no marbling and taste beefier (I’m still getting used to it), the beef fat is extremely soft, melts, and taste really good, the beef organs taste normal but I’ve been buying high-quality offal since my first time trying them so I don’t know what others taste like.

I try to have at least 2 servings of offal (preferably liver) per week as a ‘multivitamin’ due to its vitamin profile (it has every fat-soluble vitamin and water-soluble vitamins depending on how you cook it. Some is lost when cooking). I tried eating liver raw and it’s ok. It’s chewy and can be ‘minerally’ tasting at times, but it’s fine. I prefer pan seared.

I’m still losing body fat and can now fast for multiple days at a time on accident due to being busy. I rarely get hungry unless I fast for 1-3 days.

Towards the end of month #8, I started incorporating a couple ‘cheat’ meals during a house move - which are basically keto friendly foods that are more processed - such as a quest pizza. I noticed some bloating from the fiber but other than that there was no immediate weight gain or issues.

Overall
It's been a cool experience and this WOE has been fixing some issues that I didn't know could be fixed from diet. I'm slowly learning a lot about nutrition and realizing how much humans don't know about nutrition. Most studies are biased for whoever funds it, even if detrimental to our overall health.

But, I don't really miss any carbs except for Sweet Potato Pie. I'm planning on eating some in November but going right back to carnivore after.

Questions:

How did you use the bathroom without fiber during carnivore?

On carnivore, I go to the bathroom a lot less (every 3-4 days) but never felt constipated or bloated. If anything, it's easy and quick to use the bathroom when I need to.

Don’t you feel bad eating animals that have to be killed?
I know a good amount of forum members are vegans so I figured this question might be asked. Of course. But I also feel bad when a lion hunts and kills an animal for his family. Death, in general, makes me feel bad. I try to limit the number of animals that have to be killed by mainly focusing on beef for organ & meat consumption. One cow can feed 1 person for 12+ months just off of meat and fat. Most people don’t eat organs so I pick those up for cheap so it doesn’t go to waste.

How is your blood work?
I haven’t had it done yet since starting keto (I had it done right before). I’ve been waiting until the 1-year mark but might get it done in January. So, it’s possible my blood work could be on the brink of heart disease and diabetes.

How did you give up carbs/sugar?
Honestly, I just stopped eating them. The day before starting keto I had over 250g of carbs. I didn’t think about it.

What about vitamin deficiencies since you stopped eating vegetables?
The vitamins in vegetables are controversial at the moment. They’re not bio-available (meaning we don’t absorb them well). The rate at which someone can absorb them is on a person by person basis. Some people can get enough from plants and others can't. High-quality liver has most of the vitamins needed to survive (in a bio-available form). I say most due to vitamin loss based on cooking methods, vitamin d (In my opinion, this should come from the sun), and possibly vitamin K2 (which comes from fermented foods like cheese or ‘spoiled’ food - they call this ‘high meat’ I think). I believe the same mechanism that allows our body to make vitamin d from the sun also triggers other mechanisms to run - I read about some of the believed mechanisms but haven’t read any studies on it.
Keto/Carnivore Diets are very toxic and unhealthy in the long run. Yes, you will lose weight and feel great but at greater health costs. Side effects of the Keto/Carnivore diet are:
Osteoporosis, High cholesterol, Acute pancreatitis, Hyperlipidemia, Menstrual irregularities, Hair loss, Diarrhea, Kidneys failure, Cardiovascular disease, Stroke. Like any trend
diets are changing. Low food diets in the 90s, Atkins diet in 2000. I advise learning more about the biochemistry of the human body before starting any diet. The big industry doesn't care about your health so they
will lie and manipulate information just to sell their products, courses, books, videos, itp. If it's made by nature: fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes GOOD for your health and body.
Made by man: pancakes, cereals, fruits, chips BAD for your health. Eggs, Milk, Cheese -toxic food promotes and boost growth cancer cells ( you probably didn't know that arent you, me neither before).
I'm not here to criticize this gentleman, wanna share his experience with diet and it's nice. I could write an encyclopedia explaining everything in detail but all information is available online and if you really wanna be healthy and happy it's all there for free. Good luck and have a nice life.
 
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Deleted70138

Guest
What's your experience with:
pan fried vs boiled vs raw meat?
Also, how do you not worry about contamination from eating raw liver?
 

DWX

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I highly recommend listening to some of Mark Sisson's material.

He crosses between keto and paleo these days, but dropping grains was critical to his overall health way back when he was an athlete. For a man in his 60s, he looks great.

Personally, I lean more towards paleo with a heavy emphasis on *natural* fats (olive oil, butter, dripping - not toxic, industrial seed oils).

I genuinely believe if society dropped sugar and industrial seed oils, 80% of ailments would go away.

But hey, I'm just a guy certified in broscience.
 

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